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Veikkausliiga
Veikkausliiga (Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. As of 2013, Veikkausliiga is ranked as the 33rd best league in Europe. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikkaus, hence the league's name. Veikkausliiga was founded in 1990; before that the top division was called Mestaruussarja (championship series) since 1930 which was an amateur or semi-professional league. Between 1908 and 1930 the championship was decided in a cup competition. Ykkönen (division one) has been the second highest level of Finnish football since 1973. As with certain other cold-climate European countries (including parts of Norway and Sweden), league matches in Finland are played in summer, with a schedule usually from April to October. The format and number of teams has changed frequently, and in the 2013 season there were 12 teams, with each team playing the others three times, for 33 rounds during the season. An uneven number of matches meant that the best six teams from the 2012 season had 17 home matches and the other six teams had 16 home matches. At the end of the season, the lowest-placed team is relegated to Ykkönen, whose winner is promoted to Veikkausliiga. In 2010 the average annual salary with fringe benefits for a league player was 24,400 euro. Veikkausliiga is a founding member of the European Professional Football Leagues association. Clubs The Veikkausliiga clubs in the 2018 season are presented in the table below. Number of seasons includes seasons played in preceding Mestaruussarja and seasons of predecessor teams after season 2017. Number of seasons includes seasons played in preceding Mestaruussarja and seasons of predecessor teams Former clubs Note: *1 Formerly known as PPT Champions The following clubs have won either the Veikkausliiga (between 1990 and 2014) or the Mestaruussarja (between 1908 and 1989) championship: * 27 wins: HJK * 9 wins: FC Haka, HPS * 8 wins: TPS * 7 wins: HIFK * 5 wins: KuPS, Kuusysi1, Tampere United2 * 4 wins: KIF * 3 wins: Reipas Lahti1, VIFK, ÅIFK * 2 wins: FC Jazz4, KTP3, OPS, VPS * 1 win: HT, KPV, PUS, Turun Pyrkivä, Viipurin Sudet, Unitas, TPV, MyPa, FC Inter Turku Notes: 1 Kuusysi and Lahden Reipas merged their professional teams in 1997 to form FC Lahti. Both teams, however, continue in junior football. 2 Ilves-Kissat Tampere merged with TaPa Tampere in 1975 to form Ilves Tampere, who took Ilves-Kissat's place in the league. Ilves Tampere were renamed Tampere United before the 1999 season as a result of a failed merger. Although Ilves also continues as its own club, all predecessors' titles are included here in the figure for Tampere United. 3 FC KooTeePee was established to continue top-level football in Kotka when the former Kotka team known as KTP went bankrupt. However as KTP also continues to play in lower divisions its titles are not usually considered to be inherited by FC KooTeePee. In December 2013 FC KooTeePee and KTP merged to bee FC KTP 4FC Jazz was formerly known as PPT (Porin Pallotoverit) Top clubs Top scorers Individual all-time records Most matches played Last updated: 26 October 2014. Sources: Veikkausliigan verkkonäyttely: Tilastot veikkausliiga.com/Player.aspx. Most goals scored Last updated: 26 October 2014. Sources: Veikkausliigan verkkonäyttely: Tilastot veikkausliiga.com/Player.aspx Veikkausliiga - Hall Of Fame. UEFA Ranking UEFA Country Ranking As of 27 November 2014 (Previous year rank in italics) * 33 (31) Moldovan National Division * 34 (33) Georgian Premier League * 35 (36) Veikkausliiga * 36 (37) Úrvalsdeild * 37 (35) Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina See also * Football Association of Finland External links * Official website * Escape To Suomi - the latest Veikkausliiga news (in English) * Finland - List of League First Level Tables at RSSSF * Fixtures and Tables on aragon.ws * Clean and simple game scores featuring RSS feed * League321.com - Finnish football league tables, records & statistics database. Category:Finnish competitions Category:Competitions